BEIJING (MarketWatch) -- The joint venture between Japan's Nissan Motor Corp. (NSANY) and China's Dongfeng Motor Corp. is targeting passenger car sales of 300,000 units in China this year, up 47% from 2006, a senior official at the joint venture said Wednesday.

He didn't provide2005figures for comparison, but Katsumi Nakamura, president of the venture between Dongfeng and Nissan, said in November he expected the company's passenger cars sales would be around 200,000, little changed from the previous year.

Yoshida said he expects the venture to launch a new passenger car model in the first half of this year to boost its 2007 sales in China.

He added two new models introduced in the second half of last year will also likely help increase the venture's sales in China this year.

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